After a rather tumultuous offseason, if you had offered any Whitecaps fan fifth place in a very strong Western Conference they’d have bit off your hand. The fact that the Whitecaps are fifth best in the league in points per game, have games in hand on virtually all their competition, and have looked full value for their current position is all the more reason to be excited if you’re a Whitecaps fan.
The pessimist in me is waiting for it all to come tumbling down. Yet the best part about the current Whitecaps team is that they aren’t just eking out close matches at home or getting hammered and sneaking a point on the road. They’re well and truly beating teams. It’s not been abnormal to see 20 or more shots in a game, and certainly the fact we’re seeing multiple games with 3 or more goals is a testament to what is proving to be a dynamic attacking group.
That attacking group is being led by Pedro Morales. He may be most peoples favourite for team MVP, and it’s understandable considering how difficult it is to be a consistent creative force as he has been all season. It seems that there hasn’t been a single game this season that he hasn’t created a handful of scoring chances. However, in my books, Matias Laba edges out Morales for most valuable.
As was seen a couple of times this season, when Laba isn’t in the game the product is much different. Laba had his first poor outing as a Whitecap in Philadelphia, and the result was the first game of the season where the Whitecaps were truly hemmed back with no way out. It goes to show that while we still may create chances and goals, the main reason the Whitecaps have dominated so many games, home or away, is Matias Laba acting like a foundation for the rest of the team to build around.
The other player worth noting this year is Jordan Harvey. An ever-present fixture of the squad, Harvey has shored up some of the defensive lapses that were so common in the last couple of seasons and has continued to be involved offensively, notching a couple goals and otherwise being quite active in the build-up play and springing some excellent passes. This may mean eating some humble pie on my part, as I’ve been very critical of Harvey’s overall play over the last few seasons. At this rate, I’m plenty happy to see Harvey continue to be named to the first eleven, and it’s for that reason I rate him as this years 'Unsung Hero'.
A common theme the last few years has been a lack of a real identity. The picture on the pitch never became clear and the message from the coach never seemed to clear anything up.
This year it’s started much different.
The Whitecaps are a team who have attacking talent all over the pitch, are full of youthfulness and athleticism, are comfortable with the ball on the ground, and are absolutely lethal on the break. All the parts are seemingly working together well and the vision from Carl Robinson is matching the results on the pitch. It’s all very encouraging for a year that was looking like it may take the first half of the season just for the squad to settle into a new coach, new tactics and new key players.
That’s not to say there aren’t problems. Jay Demerit has had a fairly inconsistent season, and while Andy O’Brien has been pretty solid all year, but he certainly looks like a man who’s beginning to have to fight with father time.
Due to injuries and inexperience, the cover at fullback is virtually non-existent, and although he’s had some very good moments, Nigel Reo-Coker is not only not a fullback, he’s probably not going to be around for long anyway. Even the opportunities given to Leveron have ended up in an underwhelming shrug by Johnny’s biggest supporters, myself included.
Luckily for everyone, the World Cup break comes at a perfect time. Robinson gets a chance to readdress some recent defensive meltdowns, old injured bodies get a chance to recover, and Steven Beitashour is that much closer to returning to help shore up what has been a very leaky right side.
The biggest question will be what Robinson decides to do come transfer season.
The Whitecaps have mentioned bringing in a pure finisher, but part of the Whitecaps success has been young players taking opportunities and making the most of them. It’s hard to think that a new striker wouldn’t have an effect on the likes of Hurtado, Manneh, and Mattocks who have done everything asked of them all season and rewarded Robinson with plenty of goals.
The only thing with young players is that they will be inconsistent, and the Whitecaps may be wise to pick up an experienced goal scorer, although should tread carefully as he’ll likely have to sit on the bench until the kids falter.
The most likely move to happen would be for an experienced defender, preferably one who can play across the back line. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a starting centre back brought in, as it appeared Jay Demerit wasn’t exactly Robinson’s favourite even before he went down with what could be another lengthy injury, and our depth at fullback is questionable.
Other than the somewhat expected Reo-Coker departure, there likely won’t be much movement in the midfield, as Teibert and Alderson are both capable short term cover at defensive midfield, Mezquida, Teibert, or Fernandez could cover at the point of the diamond, and Mehdi Ballouchy is returning from injury.
It’s possible a true winger could be brought in, as no one on the Whitecaps really provides that heels-on-the-chalk-and-go-for-the-end-line style of wide play.
The only player I can realistically see leaving is either a depth centreback, should we bring in a new starter, or possibly Omar Salgado.
Poor Omar has had nothing but bad luck with the Whitecaps. Some of it he has created himself with a bit of a fiery attitude on the training pitch, but it may be too late for Omar in Vancouver. He has plenty of ability and will likely excel given the right circumstances, but it’s hard to see a way through for a player with other youngsters in front of him on the depth chart and all three playing well.
So maybe for the Whitecaps, who will have plenty of cap space should the suspected Reo-Coker departure come to fruition, the right move is to not change anything.
After all, they’re a team that outplayed Seattle, the best team in the league, had good showings against a very good Galaxy team, and have thoroughly outplayed most of their opponents.
If it ain’t broke, why fix it?